Welcome back! Early on in the making of the shoe piece, I created a braided cord to use as the necklace. Let's see that now, as it will come back into play as the visual of the whole thing falls into place...
I start with a Celtic money ring from around the 3rd to 1st century BC. The off-white thread I'm using here is some spectacular antique rayon, yellowed with age.
I've made this kumihimo plate designed after Makiko Tada's original plate design.
The flat braid appears. It's a zig-zag anda-gumi pattern.
And finished with another money ring. The discoloration of this old cord makes this my favorite braid I've made yet. If anyone out there has decrepit old discolored thread or cord that they want to donate to my obsessive new practice, please get in touch and I'll cover the shipping!
Now back to the pendant. Now that the sole work is in place, I can focus on what will nestle behind the glass, both the upper lens and the lower fused glass. Starting with the fused glass at the toe end, I take a eucalyptus seed cap and search out an engraving to occupy it.
A fantastic Australian scrapbook from the 1870's. Lucky this was unbound and decaying...
When she's mounted behind the glass, it should read as a sort of thought-bubble over the woman's portrait...
...like so.
Now for the top lens. Taking note of all the fabrics and textiles working their way into the piece, it occurs to me to include some antique lace or doily work into the background of the lens chamber. But as soon as my eyes fall on this small bit of tatting, I know this is to be used as a grille through which I will view another face. The center circle is even the same diameter as my lens!
I couldn't have fabricated a better fit...
A portrait of Gabriel Dumont will peer from the stitching.
I now set about searching for a title, through my collection of about 5000 accumulated titles from antique books, newspapers, etc. I've learned to be patient through this process, and not to force any associations in advance, but to go with my gut when it appears.
After exhausting my title file, I begin thumbing through complete books in my collection, hoping to find a connection there.
And there she is. No wonder she was so hard to see! The piece jumps vividly to life in my mind now - amazing how the trail of clues leads me to this life I've assembled.
Now to design a plate with the title to integrate into the form.
Space allowed to pass under the green kumihimo braid.
Cutting the plate.
Type written on and ready to etch.
Just out of the etchant.
Forming the plate on the work.
Sitting aside waiting its turn to climb aboard.
Now I treat the little boot with a high-end saddle dressing - this thirsty leather hasn't seen nourishment for over a century. New, rich color is brought up out of the leather.
I sit the plate in position and start mulling how to lash it down.
Thanks for staying with me. In the final installment: the boot gets laced, the back gets some serious attention, an unusual clasp is devised and it's a wrap.
When I get the rare chance to meet a person who is a master of their craft, it can propel my own creativity in unexpected directions.
Early this month, while teaching at a TAFTA (The Australian Forum for Textile Arts) event in Orange, NSW I met Makiko Tada, one of the world's leading practitioners of the ancient Japanese craft known as Kumihimo - literally, "gathering of threads", or braiding. Some of its many uses over the centuries have been for samurai armor and kimono accessories. But Tada has taken the traditiional techniques, passed down from her mother, and created wildly experimental kumihimo. Her engineering background enabled her to design a machine for making an incredibly strong braid. When covered in carbon fiber the braid won't fatigue like metal, so in some situations will outlast metal components! The video showing this machine in operation has got to be seen to be believed - it's completely mesmerising and I could watch it on a loop all day:
But I digress.
Back in Orange, Makiko tossed me one of the small round high-density foam disks she has developed as a modern portable 'marudai' for making kumihimo, and after some quick instruction, I was seriously - no, seriously - hooked.
Below are some images of my early experiments with this technique. It's a steep slope to become competent at it, but I have been logging many hours at the little disks and plates, braiding away, learning as I go. They'll surely work their way into my jewelry in the coming months.
Here is Makiko's disk design. I cut several of my own to have more pieces to practice with (she has deliberately not trademarked the design, preferring that it be freely used to spread the good word of kumihimo).
A tiny braid of perle cotton, attached to a 150 year old pocket watch key part.
Another tiny braid in progress.
The square plate is used primarily for making flat braids.
Slow, magic, satisfying work.
Trying a flat braid on the round disk - using waxed linen this time, as an experiment.
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